Rapid test to diagnose common womb condition endometriosis

A painful womb condition affecting two million British women could be diagnosed with almost 100 per cent accuracy by a simple new test.

At the moment, many women have to wait up to 11 years for a diagnosis of endometriosis, and undergo surgery with a general anaesthetic.

But the new test involves a quick biopsy of the womb lining, taken through the vagina while the patient is awake.

Endometriosis, which can damage the fertility, arises when cells normally found in the womb lining - or endometrium --attach themselves to other parts of the pelvic area, causing scar tissue, pain and inflammation.

Researchers from Australia and Jordan tried the new method on 99 patients. They tested the samples taken for the presence of nerve fibres which predict endometriosis, with almost 100 per cent accuracy. The findings, published in the journal Human Reproduction, still have to be confirmed in further studies.

The researchers said: ‘There is still a substantial delay in the diagnosis of endometriosis in most countries.

‘The length of time from the onset of symptoms to the definite diagnosis is often quite long, with an average of six to ten years in many centres.

‘This delay is even longer in young age patients and in severe cases.’

The researchers concluded that the reliability of diagnosis using a biopsy was close to the accuracy of the surgical assessment, which is a laparoscopy performed through the belly button. One of the experts, Dr Moamar Al-Jefout, added: ‘Our results indicate that a negative endometrial biopsy result would miss endometriosis in only one per cent of women.

‘Performing a planned laparoscopy only on a woman with a positive endometrial biopsy result would result in endometriosis being confirmed in 80 per cent to 90 per cent of these women.

‘Thus, using this diagnostic test in an infertility workup would significantly reduce the number of laparoscopies performed without reducing the number of women whose endometriosis is diagnosed and surgically treated.’

Women are treated for endometriosis using tablets such as ibuprofen to control pain and inflammation, hormone treatments and surgery to remove areas of endometrial tissue.

In a second study experts from Belgium found the density of nerve fibres in the endometrium was about 14 times higher in women with endometriosis than in healthy women.

Consultant gynaecologist Caroline Overton, of St Michael’s Hospital, Bristol, said: ‘It would be a breakthrough to have simple diagnostic test for endometriosis.

‘The test is unable to distinguish between the severity of endometriosis and doesn’t replace laparoscopy, but looks promising.’

Nemone Warner of Endometriosis UK, said: ‘Average diagnosis times currently stand at an unacceptable 11 years from first experiencing symptoms.

‘By developing non-surgical techniques, we hope that this wait can be reduced.

‘Women will benefit from earlier diagnosis without the risk of surgical complications, and will therefore access earlier treatment to relieve their symptoms.’